The most stressful thing about driving today is the modern mega roundabout. Drivers new and old can stress at the prospect of weaving their way through the congested race of traffic that seems determined to drive you into the wrong lane. The key issue, of course, is that in this manic metallic chariot race you have to find the right road off. That is not always easy with signs of ever greater number and complexity. I think many of us would admit to having gone round such roundabouts several times before, perhaps with a pleading prayer, we veer off onto what we hope was the right road.
This image of a busy and bewildering roundabout strikes me as a powerful picture of life today. Ours is an age of perplexing confusion and troubling uncertainty where it’s not easy to give answers to those big decisions about what we should believe and how we should live. On this roundabout of life there’s a lot of fast-moving traffic and it’s not easy to pick the right road amongst perplexing and ever-changing signs. One claims it will lead to wealth, another to a fulfilled life and still others to happiness, joy and other appealing destinations. Above each is a claim – ‘This is the way’.
The phrase ‘the way’ echoes throughout the Bible. Although modern translations prefer to translate it as ‘the road’ or ‘the highway’ we find over 170 references to ‘the way’. In both Testaments it is a word often referring to how we live; indeed, it is not far from the similar English expression ‘the way of life’. It is widespread through the Old Testament and is used in the Psalms, for example Psalm 1:1,6; 27:11; 139:24.
Jesus uses the phrase the way about the existence that he calls his followers to. Of the many verses, perhaps the most memorable are in his words to his anxious disciples on the eve of his arrest. There Jesus says, ‘“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”’ (John 14:3-7 ESV). Remarkably, ‘the way’ here is not Jesus’ teaching but him personally. These powerful words of the Lord seem to lie behind how, in the very first years of the Christian church, Jesus’ followers referred to themselves as ‘the People of the Way’. This phrase appears in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:2; 24:14). As the church spread across the Mediterranean, ‘the Way’ seems to have been replaced by the word ‘Christianoi’ or ‘Christian’ (Acts 11:26; 26:28). I am inclined to think that the loss of the phrase ‘the People of the Way’ is a pity. It speaks of a whole community confidently belonging to Jesus and committed to following and obeying him, not just on Sunday but throughout the week.
On the roundabout of life one of the less obvious turnings is that of the ‘Way of Life’. It is a narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14) marked by a clear, if small, notice that is easily overlooked by the careless or hasty amidst the larger more illuminated signs.
Why do so few people come off the roundabout of life to take the Way that is Jesus? Let me suggest three possible reasons.
First, there is a recklessness in deciding. Some people have an almost mystical belief that it doesn’t really matter what you do in life, it’s all going to work out. Whatever road you choose, they say, you’ll get to your destination somehow. Well, that’s a very naïve strategy on a real roundabout and an even deadlier one on the roundabout of life. Not all roads lead you home and some lead you to where you really don’t want to go.
Second, there is a reluctance in committing. Some people continually postpone making any decision about which road in life to take. ‘I don’t want to take the wrong direction,’ or ‘I need more clarity,’ they say and continue circling the roundabout of life. They overlook the fact that to make no decision is, in fact, to make a decision. Endlessly wavering, they continue in circles until, finally, the fuel of life runs out on them.
Third, there is a refusal in submitting. Some people seem to wilfully and deliberately choose the wrong way. They recognise in some way that to take the ‘Way of Life’ would be to bow the knee to Christ and that demands too much. One of Britain’s top funeral songs is Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, with its defiant words, ‘And more, much more than this, I did it my way.’ Here it’s not hard to think of that grim Bible verse, ‘There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death’ (Proverbs 14:12 NIV).
Nevertheless, some on the busy roundabout of life do choose the Way of Life, commit themselves to Jesus and take the road of choosing to follow and obey him. They take to heart too that the phrase ‘the People of the Way’ suggests they do not travel the road alone: they – and we – travel together as part of God’s people. Here, there is indeed safety and strength in numbers.
Are you stuck circling the roundabout of life? Look beyond the big glittering signs to that narrow road marked ‘Jesus: the Way of Life’. When you have chosen it, stay on it. You have joined the People of the Way and be encouraged: however long the road before you, you are assured of a joyful destination!
J.John
Reverend Canon
